How to split US/IOA into two days?

[Celesdragon]

Seems like this would be a straight forward answer - one park a day. But we're looking for some advice on this, since we have park hoppers and want to ride the Hogwarts Express in both directions with the minimum of backtracking.

One of the ideas we've been bouncing around with is to start with US first, work our way halfway around the park until we hit Hogsmeade, take the Hogwarts express over to IOA, and then work our way back to the entrance in IOA via one side of the park.

Then, the next day, head into IOA first and work our way back to Diagon along the side we didn't go the first day, take the Hogwarts express back to Hogsmeade (that way we've taken it both ways) and finish up with the side of US that we didn't get to on the first day.

Has anyone done this? Does anyone have any suggestions on which sides to do first?

 

[wookiebeck]

I never really thought of it this way. Nice work thinking creatively!!!

My two cents is that the HE is not 'halfway' around either park. Starting at IOA, Seuss Landing comes up first, then the HE is there before entering Hogsmeade. Probably only 20% of park.

But I could see you using 50% of your TIME doing Seauss and Hogsmeade, then use the other 50% of time at US. No big difference other than some minor backtracking as you explore.

Others might chime in if you can answer the usual questions:
1. Are you doing early entry?
2. Will you have express passes?
3. Any restaurant rezzies that could make your tour plan different?
4. Do you want to see shows? Their times are fixed so backtracking might take place.

Have fun!

 

[2girlsmom]

What we did was to leave it pretty much as 1 park per day, but on our IOA day we took the HE across to Hogsmeade and then immediately entered the return line and came back to USO.

 

[Celesdragon]

But I could see you using 50% of your TIME doing Seauss and Hogsmeade, then use the other 50% of time at US. No big difference other than some minor backtracking as you explore.

Others might chime in if you can answer the usual questions:
1. Are you doing early entry?
2. Will you have express passes?
3. Any restaurant rezzies that could make your tour plan different?
4. Do you want to see shows? Their times are fixed so backtracking might take place.

Have fun!

Yeah, that's why we're trying to figure out how much is "half" of the park on each side. It's not precisely evenly split on space, but the content in those 'halves' changes everything. We're an adult-only group, so we don't anticipate having to spend a lot of time in certain kidzones. We know already that the HP, JP, and Simpsons areas are going to be our main goals of the trip.

1 - No early entry. We're actually staying at Pop and taking Mears over.

2 - No express passes. We're doing first week of December, and as long as if the crowd calendars are right, we really don't see a reason to need one. Touringplans is projecting 1 & 2's both days we've chosen, and if we hit a major line, we're totally ok with single rider lanes.

3 - No rezzies. We are looking at Cowfish & maybe Leaky Cauldron, but it's pretty much a "Hey that smells good, lets try that place" attitude.

4 - If a show happens to be starting or near starting when we walk by, then we'd detour or wait for it. We don't really want to plan our days around them (leave that for Disney, lol).

 

[wookiebeck]

Thank you for the details. Crowd levels and adults only are your main advantages.

Keep in mind that the two parks together are not the largest footprint and are as manageable to walk as say, Epcot.

Your original plan is a good one. So is the idea of doing HE back and forth all at once.

You will have enough time to do everything you want to do. Another idea is to use one day as all HP. Start in DA exploring getting the lay of the land. Take HE to Hogsmeade ride all the fun stuff there. HE back to DA and ride Gringotts. This approximates the story line progression a bit.

Then see what time is left and the next day to fit in everything else you want to do. You won't need a touring plan like at WDW.

 

[dvan]

Hi! I was in the same boat as you when planning our trip (also in the first week of December!). It was hard figuring things out with the high demand of the WWoHP. This best way we figured (for us, at least) was this:

Day 1
Start your day in Universal Studios and head STRAIGHT to Diagon Alley and do what you wanted to do there. Then, venture around the park until the last two hours or hour and a half before they close, or whenever you feel like you've had enough of US. If you made a full circle, you should have ended up back in Diagon Alley. Then, ride the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade and spend the rest of the evening there, until the park closes. Take the scenic route out of the park

Day 2
Start your day in IOA and head STRAIGHT to Hogsmeade and do what you wanted to do there. Like the first day, venture around the park until the last few hours of day, and when you've come around full circle, then hop on the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley and end your night there, and again, take the scenic route out of the park!

Hope this helps!

 

[Chelley00]

We started Day One at Universal, walked straight back to Kings Cross station and then took Hogwarts Express to IOA and spent the day there, then rode Hogwarts Express back and left from US back to the resort.

The second day we had early entry to Universal, so we started in Diagon Alley and then spent the rest of the day around Universal. That evening we rode Hogwarts Express over to IOA and hit up a few things we had missed the day before.

 

[Celesdragon]

Thank you everyone! Since this is our first trip in almost two decades, we're really kinda flailing around in the dark on how to make the most of this. All of the advice is very much appreciated!

 

[johde]

Yeah, that's why we're trying to figure out how much is "half" of the park on each side. It's not precisely evenly split on space, but the content in those 'halves' changes everything. We're an adult-only group, so we don't anticipate having to spend a lot of time in certain kidzones. We know already that the HP, JP, and Simpsons areas are going to be our main goals of the trip.

1 - No early entry. We're actually staying at Pop and taking Mears over.

2 - No express passes. We're doing first week of December, and as long as if the crowd calendars are right, we really don't see a reason to need one. Touringplans is projecting 1 & 2's both days we've chosen, and if we hit a major line, we're totally ok with single rider lanes.

3 - No rezzies. We are looking at Cowfish & maybe Leaky Cauldron, but it's pretty much a "Hey that smells good, lets try that place" attitude.
.

If you paid for Touringplans.com you may want to look at their 2 day/2 park plan. They break the parks in 1/2 pretty well at least in terms of attractions but also in terms of headliners and lesser attractions. The one difference I would make (besides customizing for show times and meal times) is to check the Gringotts queue time Day 1 before hitting the Hogswarts Express to IOA. The offsite plan has you hitting Gringotts only once at the end of Day 2 otherwise.

 

[spideymike]

I'm in the same boat too but we'll be at Universal tonight through Wednesday with a day for Sea World in between (probably too cold for Wet 'n Wild but that's a maybe).

Since IOA is open shorter tomorrow 9-6 and Universal is 9-7 I figure we'd hit Universal first and then go the IOA on Sunday and from then on figure out what we missed and what to revisit before the Thanksgiving crowds come in.

We have Early Entry as well as Express Passes for the rest of the parks so I'm not worried about most of the other places around the parks.

 

[Celesdragon]

Just an update now that we're back! Our plan worked out pretty well!

Day 1 (Both parks closed at 6 / Crowd level was at a "2")
- Entered through Universal Studios around 10am.
- Worked our way around the right side of the park for Terminator, Springfield, Men in Black, and then Diagon Alley.
- Stopped for lunch at Leaky Cauldron & rode Gringrotts (20 minute wait around 2pm).
- Took the Hogwarts Express over to IoA.
- Did a quick walking tour of Hogsmeade (only shopping, no rides)
- Worked our way back to the entrance via Lost Continent & Suess. Exited the park around 5:30pm.

Day 2 (Both parks closed at 7 / Crowd level was again a "2")
- Entered through Port of Entry in IoA at 9:30 am.
- Shopped around, had breakfast at Croissant Moon Bakery
- Worked our way through Marvel, Toon Lagoon, and Jurassic Park. We didn't do any rides through here except Jurassic Park. We did take time to enjoy the arcade, meet and greets, and play areas though.
- Finished up IOA with a lunch at Three Broomsticks and riding Forbidden Journey
- Took the Hogwarts Express back to Universal
- Stuck around for some more ice cream and another show at Ollivanders
- Left Diagon and worked our way through the rest of the park via Mummy, Disaster, Despicable Me, etc. Saw the Despicable Me/Spongebob/Dora parade.
- Ended up leaving the park around 6:30 as it started raining.

We almost never had to backtrack, and got to spend a bit of both days in both HP sections. It was perfect.